Cheeses of different flavors have traditionally been made in distinctive shaped pieces, and consumers have come to identify the type and flavor of cheeses by the shapes of the cheese pieces. For example, mozzarella has been traditionally made in pear-shaped pieces. Other cheeses have been made in the shape of flattened balls, cones or cylinders.
In recent years, the increased demand for such cheeses has stimulated attempts to mass produce pieces of the cheeses in their traditional shapes. However, todate, such attempts have not been completely successful; it has been especially difficult to mass produce consumer size cheese pieces in the more complex traditional shapes.